Nnena Kalu

Nnena Kalu has developed her artistic practice at ActionSpace’s studio in Studio Voltaire since 1999.

Her practice is rooted in two-dimensional works, sculptures and installations. Through binding, layering and wrapping materials, Nnena explores space, scale and materiality with repetitive sculptural processes. Her installations often begin with multiple compact ‘cocoons’ or ‘boulders’ of textiles and paper tightly packed in cellophane and tape. Nnena’s energetic installations become an extension of her physical movements, focusing on an important relationship between the artist’s body and her sculptural forms.

Nnena’s two-dimensional works are also viewed as sculptural explorations of space dictated by the length and reach of Nnena’s arms, as well as the size of the paper. Drawings and paintings are frequently produced in pairs, the second an echo of the first. Process, repetition and material are pivotal to Nnena’s practice. The energy and passion Nnena emits through making, her methodology and the complex and ambitious work she creates are fascinating.